Attention: Playboy magazine is up for sale

Playboy Enterprises the owner of Playboy magazine, is exploring a sale, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, in a move that comes after the storied magazine stopped publishing nude photos of women and put up the iconic Playboy Mansion up for sale.

Playboy Enterprises, the owner of the iconic magazine is exploring a sale. The company could be valued around $500 million(HT Archive)

Playboy Enterprises the owner of Playboy magazine, is exploring a sale, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, in a move that comes after the storied magazine stopped publishing nude photos of women and put up the iconic Playboy Mansion up for sale.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news, said the company could be valued at more than $500 million.

Hugh Hefner, who founded Playboy in 1953, took the company private in 2011, along with private equity firm Rizvi Traverse Management, in a deal that valued the company at $207 million.

In February, the company stopped publishing nude photos, saying they had become outdated due to the plethora of free pornography on the Internet.

Circulation of Playboy, also known for its bunny ears, has dropped from about 5.6 million in 1975 to around 800,000 in recent years.